STEPHEN PEARSON, the Motherwell midfielder, has backed Mark McGhee for manager of the year after his miracle on Fir Park Street.
The Scotland assistant took over in October with the Lanarkshire club sitting ninth in the Ladbrokes Premiership just four points off a relegation play-off place. In the weeks prior to McGhee’s return to his old haunt, Motherwell had been on a poor run that also saw them dumped out of the League Cup by Championship outfit Morton.
Fast forward six months and the transformation at Motherwell is there for all to see.
Instead of scrapping it out at the foot of the table, the 58-year-old’s team go into the split sitting safely in fourth, well away from the troubles that mired Motherwell’s season last time out.
For Pearson, the turnaround has been incredible, and he is not shy on praising his manager in the hope he gets further recognition in the weeks to come.
He said: “We just found a bit of confidence from winning a couple of games in a row and that just seemed to be what we needed.
“The belief has always been in the players and the manager certainly has always believed in the players. But it’s winning games that breeds confidence and that little upturn was the key thing.
“Mark McGhee could potentially be a contender for manager of the year. He’s won a few manager of the month awards as well and he deserves a lot of credit for the way he came in and galvanised us.
“He’s got us playing with a confidence and a real determination not to get beat. He’s been fantastic with us and it’s a pleasure working for him.
“One of the first things he did was come in playing well and ran us into the ground in training. We had double sessions for a couple of weeks and all of that was running.
“Obviously football-related running but it was very tough, intense running sessions. We were quite a fit group anyway but he obviously felt the need to come in and stamp his authority on it and that was the way he did it.”
With Rangers defeating Celtic in the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final, it means any hope of Motherwell sneaking into Europe died as Tom Rogic’s spot kick flew skyward.
If the Parkhead club were to have won the trophy, their Europa League qualifying place would defer to the team sitting fourth in the table.
Despite that disappointment, it is not enough to deflate Pearson and his team-mates ahead of their push to hang on to their lofty perch.
He said: “The boys have been excellent these last few weeks. I don’t think anybody thought we were going to finish in the top six, outside our camp.
“It’s an amazing turnaround from how we felt after the Kilmarnock defeat because it was looking like a relegation battle at that point.
“Having been in that position last year I could see the same scenario unfolding.
“It wasn’t an enjoyable experience at all last season so at that point with the run we were on I was thinking ‘here we go again.’
“It was something that players who were here last year wanted to rectify as quickly as possible and make sure we didn’t find ourselves in that position again."
Stephen McManus was speaking at the launch of the Longest Day Golf Challenge to raise funds for MacMillan Cancer Support. To sponsor, please visit the Just Giving page at https://www.justgiving.com/David-Clarkson9
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